What future for the previous Syrian president and his spouse?

When Bashar al-Assad was toppled on Sunday, it turned the web page not solely on his 24-year presidency, but additionally on his household’s greater than 50 years in energy in Syria.

Earlier than Assad got here to energy in 2000, his late father Hafez served as president for 3 a long time.

Now with the rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir-al Sham (HTS) forming a transitional authorities, the way forward for the deposed president, his spouse and their three youngsters is unsure.

They’re now in Russia, the place they’ve been provided asylum, however what awaits them?

Russia was a staunch ally of Assad throughout Syria’s civil conflict and has two key army bases within the Center Jap nation.

In 2015, Russia launched an air marketing campaign in assist of Assad that turned the tide of the conflict within the authorities’s favor.

A UK-based monitoring group reported that greater than 21,000 folks, together with 8,700 civilians, had been killed in Russian army operations over the following 9 years.

Nevertheless, distracted by its conflict in Ukraine, Russia was unwilling or unable to assist Assad’s authorities cease the rebels’ blitzkrieg after it launched in late November.

Hours after insurgent forces took management of Damascus, Russian state media reported that Assad and his household had arrived in Moscow and can be granted asylum on “humanitarian grounds.”

However when reporters requested Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday about Assad’s whereabouts and his request for asylum, he replied: “I’ve nothing to inform you… for the second After all, such a choice. [on granting asylum] can’t be carried out with out the top of state. It’s his resolution.”

Assad’s ties to Russia, and particularly Moscow, are nicely documented.

A 2019 investigation by the Monetary Instances discovered that Assad’s prolonged household had bought not less than 18 luxurious flats within the Russian capital, in a bid to maintain tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} out of Syria in the course of the civil conflict.

In the meantime, Assad’s eldest son, Hafez, is a doctoral scholar within the metropolis – with a neighborhood newspaper final week reporting on the 22-year-old’s doctoral thesis.

Amid the weekend chaos, Russian state tv reported that officers in Moscow had been in talks with the “Syrian armed opposition” to safe Russian bases and diplomatic missions.

Assad is married to a twin British-Syrian nationwide, Asma, who was born and raised in west London to Syrian dad and mom.

She attended faculty and college in London earlier than turning into an funding banker.

Asma moved to Syria full-time in 2000 and married Assad simply as he succeeded her father as president.

Dr Nesrin Alrefaai, a visiting fellow on the London College of Economics and Political Science (LSE), advised BBC Information that Asma “holds a British passport and will subsequently return to the UK” as an alternative of remaining in Russia.

“Nevertheless, america [has] imposed sanctions on her father, Dr. Fawaz al-Akhras, who can also be believed to be in Russia,” she stated, suggesting Asma could wish to keep in Moscow in the intervening time.

In a Mail On-line article, neighbors reportedly stated Asma’s father, a heart specialist, and mom Sahar, a retired diplomat, wished to be in Moscow to “consolate” their daughter and son-in-law.

Assad and his spouse have three youngsters: Hafez, the doctoral scholar, Zein and Karim.

A 2022 US State Division report back to Congress stated the web value of the prolonged Assad household was between $1 billion (£790 million) and $2 billion (£1.6 billion). ) – whereas noting that it was troublesome to estimate as a result of their property “are purported to be distributed”. seen and hidden in lots of accounts, actual property portfolios, corporations and offshore tax havens.

Based on the report, Bashar and Asma had “shut patronage relationships with Syria’s largest financial gamers, utilizing their companies to launder cash from illicit actions and funnel funds to the regime.”

He additionally stated Asma had “affect on the financial committee that manages the present financial disaster in Syria” – and had made key choices on Syria’s “meals and oil subsidies, commerce and forex points”.

She additionally had affect over the Syrian Improvement Fund, by means of which most international assist for reconstruction in regime-held areas handed.

In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that Asma had “turn into considered one of Syria’s most infamous conflict profiteers” with the assistance of her husband and household.

One other senior Trump administration official described her because the “household enterprise chief” and an “oligarch” who competed with Bashar’s cousin, Rami Makhlouf.

He is likely one of the richest males in Syria and the household divide has public knowledge after posting videos on social media complain about his therapy.

After the autumn of the Assad dynasty, Amnesty Worldwide Secretary Basic Agnès Callamard stated Syrians had been subjected to what she referred to as “a horrific catalog of human rights violations which have precipitated untold human struggling.” on a big scale.

This contains “assaults with chemical weapons, barrel bombs and different conflict crimes, in addition to homicide, torture, enforced disappearances and extermination which represent crimes towards humanity”.

She referred to as on the worldwide group to make sure that these suspected of breaking worldwide legislation and different severe human rights violations are investigated and prosecuted for his or her crimes.

On Tuesday, Syria’s Islamist insurgent chief stated all senior officers from the ousted regime allegedly concerned within the torture of political prisoners can be named.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani additionally stated his so-called Syrian Salvation Authorities would search to repatriate officers he recognized who fled to a different nation.

In France, investigating judges requested an arrest warrant against Assad for alleged complicity in crimes towards humanity and conflict crimes, in relation to a lethal chemical assault in Syria in 2013, below the authorized idea of common jurisdiction.

Russia doesn’t extradite its personal nationals – a authorized process by which an individual is returned to a different nation or state to face trial for an alleged crime.

Assad is unlikely to depart Russia to go to a rustic the place he might be extradited to Syria or every other nation that might cost him with against the law.